A Treaty to Advance
Women's Rights Globally

Updated July 17, 2002 12:01 a.m. ET

Christina Hoff Sommers (editorial page, June 26) and Christopher DeMuth (Letters, July 8) of the American Enterprise Institute condemn the Treaty for the Rights of Women, also known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The core of Ms. Sommers's argument is that many nations are unlikely to uphold the treaty, and therefore the United States should stay out of it. That's a bit like saying we shouldn't pass criminal statutes because some people will violate them. Mr. DeMuth, for...